New York City, June/July 2003

(Click on any picture to get a larger version of that image.)

We got in to NYC from Boston late in the afternoon; after a rest period, we sought out something we could do right away and settled for going to the top of the Empire State Building. I'm standing in front of scenic inky blackness, but you can make out the Chrysler building behind Shelby's left shoulder.

Sphere for Plaza Fountain, a sculpture that used to be in the middle of the World Trade Center plaza and was damaged in the Sept. 11th attacks. Now it's located in Battery Park and serving as a temporary WTC memorial.

The next day we started out bright and early to see Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Thanks to a "police action" somewhere in lower Manhattan, our straight-shot subway trip was turned into an odyssey of multiple transfers and many flights of stairs. We got there, but by the end of the trip, Shelby would have killed me if she'd had the energy.

Ellis Island.

The Registry Room, where immigrants were subject to a quick medical exam and a series of personal questions before being further sorted.

The name of my immigrant ancestor Gerrit Bakker appears twice on the American Immigrant Wall of Honor, thanks to some miscommunication between different members of my family.

Shelby in the middle of the bright lights of Times Square.

Naturally, this was our favorite billboard. (It's advertising the products of The Dog Club.)

On the Fourth of July, our last day in NYC, we were treated to dinner at the home of my cousin Kristy and her husband Steve. After dinner, we went with them to watch 4th of July fireworks from Roosevelt Island. The fireworks show was extravaganza-riffic; it was particularly neat to watch the reflections of the fireworks off of the United Nations building, just across the river.